Thursday, November 1, 2012

My Tenth Birthday

I was born on November 24, 1854 in Klein Tuchen in Pommern, Germany and was the third son of my parents. In our family a boy's 10th birthday was a special occasion and the year I was turning 10 my birthday in November was on my mind constantly.

November 24, 1864 began bright and early. I awoke even before it was light outside and could hear Mama and Papa working in the house. Today would be my special birthday and many aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors would be coming by. Papa and Mama had a strict law in our family that each child must attend school for 4 years; that was very important to them as they were not able to have any schooling. So far my 2 older brothers, Albert and Fritz, had studied for 4 years in school and then when they were 10 they were allowed to begin working on the farm with Papa. I was looking forward to this as well. I must admit school was not my favorite thing to do; I would have rather been outside in the fields or playing with my brothers but Papa and Mama were very strict about the school rule. Today I would be allowed to stop school and begin to work on the farm as well.

Papa called to us boys to get up while it was still dark. Albert, Fritz and I got up immediately but our younger brothers, Heinrich and Johann, were lazier and had to be prompted to get up. They were only 7 and 5 at the time. Baby Hermann would be 2 tomorrow and he was still sleeping as well. Mama also had the new baby, Gustav, who was only 5 weeks old at the time. There had also been another brother, Franz, but he had died last year when he was only 2. Mama had been so hoping that this latest baby would be a little girl but now we were a family of Mama, Papa and 7 sons.

That morning Mama had our breakfast ready for us and told us to hurry and eat because aunts would be arriving soon to help with the birthday celebrations. Because Mama had baby Gustav to tend to some of the aunts would be helping with the food for the birthday so that Mama could rest. Mama would do this for the aunts in return as well. Having a large family was important Mama would say because everyone would help everyone else.

We had barely finished our breakfast and the light was just beginning on the day when we could hear a wagon outside. It was Oma Kautz coming to help with the birthday. Oma was Mama's mother and all us boys loved Oma Kautz because she always brought us special breads and cakes that she had made. Oma was the only grandparent I had any more. I had not known Opa Kautz because he had died long before I was born. When he died, Oma married a Mr. Krause so that she would have help on the farm. Mr. Krause was very stern and never smiled so we boys stayed away from him.

Oma came in the house and told me "Happy Birthday, August" and showed me the basket she was bringing that held some special cakes with sugar on top. She went over to Mama and inquired how baby Gustav was doing. Mama said he was sleeping fine but not eating well and she was worried. We did not know it then but in a few months baby Gustav would die.

After breakfast all us boys were sent outside to give Mama and Oma room to work on the birthday. Soon the aunts arrived carrying baskets of food as well. Mama was going to make my favorite Pommern potatoes and the aunts had been helping her the last few days by boiling and cooling pounds of potatoes. Now they were bringing them to the house so Mama could prepare them for me. The potatoes took a long time to make but it helped Mama that the aunts had boiled them ahead of time. Mama then sliced them and put them in the pan on the fire with lots of lard. The potatoes sizzled and fried for quite some time while Mama kept slicing more potatoes. We would need a lot for all the family that was coming. What made these potatoes special was after they were almost done frying Mama would crack eggs into the potatoes and fry them together; the eggs would work into the potatoes and Mama would get them very crispy. I always wanted the potatoes around the edge of the frying pan because they were the best. Many times we had these Pommern potatoes for dinner only because they were so good. Mama had promised me she would make them herself for my birthday because her potatoes were much better than those made by the aunts though we could not tell them that.

Aunt Carolina and Uncle Johann vonJutrzenka arrived soon with some of the cousins. Aunt Carolina was one of Papa's sisters. They brought more food and chicken as well for the meal. Mama was happy to see them because Aunt Carolina was a hard worker. Soon Uncle August and Aunt Friederike Colberg arrived. Uncle August was Papa's brother and he was my godfather which was something he reminded me of all the time. I liked Uncle August because he would take my older brothers out behind the barn and let them smoke some tobacco and he had been promising this to me all year. Aunt Friederike came bearing her usual gift for all the cousins which were hand knit socks. She took great pride in using heavy yarn so that the socks would be warm and would always say the same thing "if your feet are warm you won't get sick". We boys thought her socks were picky and uncomfortable but Mama always frowned at us and we quickly thanked Aunt Friederike. Later Mama would tell us that we needed to be grateful because we had many feet in the house to put socks on and it helped Mama when an aunt would give new socks.

By mid day we had many guests - aunts, uncles and cousins and even neighbors all coming for my 10th birthday. Uncle Gottlieb and Aunt Karolina brought a smoked ham from the hogs on their farm and Papa praised the ham. Uncle Gottlieb was Papa's brother as well. They had children the same ages as us boys and even had an August born the same year as me. Sometimes it became very confusing when all the cousins were together.

The day went by quickly but it was grand fun. Uncle August tried to take me out behind the barn to show me his tobacco but Papa saw us and quickly stopped this. Uncle August and Papa talked loudly about this for a while but in the end Uncle August shrugged and walked away. Papa told me that there would be plenty of time for tobacco but he didn't want me to be sick today on my birthday. I wasn't very happy but we boys knew we had to obey Papa. That was the way it was.

By the end of the day the families were all leaving but Aunt Carolina and Oma Kautz stayed longer to help with cleaning up the house. Mama was looking very tired and Oma was worried about her. But she said to me "I think August Gottlieb that you had a grand 10th birthday and now you are a man". Oma Kautz reminded me that Mama had worked hard on my Pommern potatoes while tending baby Gustav and I should never forget the grand birthday I had.

And I never did!!!

The above are recollections contained in notes written by Ella Kolberg Kijak from verbal discussions with her father, August Gottlieb Kolberg, on Ella's 19th birthday on August 8, 1914.

12 comments:

What a special birthday celebration indeed! You told this story beautifully, Cheryl. We should all be so lucky as to have such memories from days of old to pass on. Thank you for sharing this lovely birthday tale in the COG!

About Me

Intent of this Blog

This is an ongoing history of my German and Polish ancestors, their lives and the factors that caused them to "cross the ocean" to create new lives in America!

Why My Family History?

When did my quest for searching my ancestry begin? The earliest I can remember is when my paternal grandmother gave me a black onyx ring with a tiny diamond in the center. She told me that the diamond had come from one of the three tiny diamonds in her wedding pendant from 1917. The necklace had been broken over the years and she subsequently took the 3 diamonds out and had them made into rings. I remember quizzing her on her parents and grandparents and there was no turning back. Now many years later I am still searching and learning; once bitten by the genealogy bug there is no stopping. And the search goes on and on............

Explanation of Blog Header

The header (above) that appears on this blog was created after much deliberation as to how to adequately depict the focus and theme of "Two Sides of the Ocean".

With this header, you will see images of a lighthouse and harbor area which is reminiscent of the lighthouse in southwest Michigan where two lines of my family immigrated to. There are two photos included from Germany including one showing the village of Schwarzenbach by Nürnberg, Bavaria, Germany where my Bauer family originated and a photo of the Evangelical Church of Gross Tuchen, Bütow, Pommern where my Kolberg and Kramp families originated.

The 4 photos in the center are of my 4 great-grandmothers, namely Amelia (Schluessler) Wellhausen, Mary (Rubis) Kijak, Bertha (Kramp) Kolberg and Juliane (Feucht) Schulte. Two of these great-grandmothers were born on "this" side of the ocean while the other two were born on the "other" side of the ocean.

Photos in Blog

All photos in this blog are created so that the reader may click on the photo to enlarge.

All photos are either from my own collection, photos that I have personally taken or photos that I have permission to use.